R C Giles, J M Donahue, C B Hong, P A Tuttle, M B Petrites-Murphy, K B Poonacha, A W Roberts, R R Tramontin, B Smith, T W Swerczek
Pathology case records of 3,514 aborted fetuses, stillborn foals, or foals that died < 24 hours after birth and of 13 placentas from mares whose foals were weak or unthrifty at birth were reviewed to determine the cause of abortion, death, or illness. Fetoplacental infection caused by bacteria (n = 628), equine herpesvirus (143), fungi (61), or placentitis (351), in which an etiologic agent could not be defined, was the most common diagnosis. Complications of birth, including neonatal asphyxia, dystocia, or trauma, were the second most common cause of mortality and were diagnosed in 19% of the cases (679)...
October 15, 1993: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association